Sunday, March 30, 2014

We're all packed up and just about ready to go. It's a 15 hour, direct flight to manila, arriving at 4 AM on April 1 (yup...we lose all of March 31) and then a second flight from Manila to Legazpi arriving at noon.

Many people liked our first packing list blog post, so we thought we'd do it again. We were hoping that going to the tropics would mean that we could get away with bringing a lot less stuff. Unfortunately, with the sunscreen, bug spray, fins, snorkel and mask, we're actually bring about 10-15 lbs more stuff. Our bags weigh 26 lbs and 27 lbs, and our carry-on is 11 lbs. On the plus side, our bags might actually get lighter as we go and use up the sunscreen!

Clothes
We pre-treated most of our outerwear with Picaridin - it should keep the mosquitos away for about 6 weeks (we're hoping it last a bit longer than that). Laura would like to emphasize that she actually doesn't have a lot more stuff than I do. Her list is just longer.

Jerome

Laura

2x swimming trunks

board shorts

Swimming rashguard

2x bikinis

2x shorts

Swimming rashguard

zip off pants

zip off pants

long sleeve shirt

3/4 length pants

wool long sleeve base layer

shorts

2x cotton t-shirt

Long sleeve shirt

2x short-sleeve collared shirt

2x short sleeve collared shirt

4x boxers

wool long sleeve base layer

4x socks

wool t-shirt

rain jacket

2x tank top

shoes

pyjama shorts

flip flops

5x underwear

2x bras

sports bra

4x socks

Rain jacket

Sandals

Shoes

Electronics
Since we're going to be in the water so much, I decided to get a GoPro. The housing that it comes with is good down to 131' (40m). Hopefully we get some amazing pictures and video.

On a different note... look at the awesome cake my co-workers got for my going away party! The cake was decorated with asian fruits - durien, rambutan, bananas etc. One side had pineapple filling and the other side had pandan and coconut.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

It has been a quiet few months for blog posts, but very busy for us. At the start of February we got all the approvals from our works to take another 3 month sabbatical to go travelling again. Since then we've been madly planning and preparing. Two weeks today we'll be heading out on our next big adventure, travelling around South East Asia.

We don't quite have the whole itinerary completed yet, but we're close. We're flying into the Philippines where we'll spend most of the first month exploring several of the islands, snorkeling, diving and hopefully seeing whale sharks. We will then be heading to Malaysian Borneo where we will be climbing Mt. Kinabalu, staying in the jungle to look for proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants and the giant rafflesia flowers. Next we will be heading to Bali where we will be doing some more exploring and diving. On to Komodo to see the infamous Komodo dragons! After that we'll visit Java briefly to see the temples of Borobudur and Prambanan. Then to Singapore to eat lots of tasty food!! We have a few weeks still to figure out here, and then we'll be going to Siem Reap to explore Cambodia's Angkor Wat and other temples, and finally to Hong Kong for a few days before returning home at the start of July.

We're really excited and very grateful to be heading out on this big adventure. We're not sure how easy internet will be to get. But we're going to do our best to post along the way and share our experiences. So keep checking in for updates!

In the last few months we've been busy and gotten certified for Scuba Diving and have been doing weekly hikes in preparation for the mountain climb. Here are a few photos of what we've been up to!